Discover exactly how to build a computer from scratch with this easy to follow guide.

Find out exactly what components you'll need, where to get them from, how to put them together and make them work.

At the end of this page you'll have enough information to go out and start building your very own computer. Make sure to follow each step and check out the Troubleshooting and Tips section at the end if you get stuck. Remember the Internet is a community that is here to help, just ask if you have any questions.

Ok, so we're going to be building a fairly basic computer, and the reason we're doing this is so that you can understand the fundamentals. Building computers isn't rocket science, but it does get tricky, so we're going to stick with what I would call a "classic" computer setup, this tutorial would be far too long if we had to delve into the issues surrounding how to build a gaming pc, or how to build a super computer. Let's keep it simple and cheap!

Below are some photo's of each of the components I'm going to use to build a computer, you should be able to find similar components dirt cheap on ebay, or in your local papers, perhaps you have most of the components lying around in your garage.

Tip: Ask around for spare components people in your family might have, you can often get all you need by picking up old computer parts that people no longer need after they upgrade their computer.

The Computer Case you end up buying could be a classic desktop case, meaning it sits flat along your desk and the monitor usually rests on top. Or it could be like the one pictured here... a Tower case. The tower cases come in many different flavors, you can pick up full-tower, mid-tower and mini-tower right down to shuttle sized (I wouldn't recommend getting a shuttle sized case, it's going to be a lot more fiddly to connect your components in that small space).

If possible get a computer case with a Power Supply still connected, it's not that its hard to connect a power supply, but it just means one less step on your way to building a computer.

When you start looking for a Motherboard to buy you'll pretty much be determining the rest of your system. The motheboard determines what type of CPU you can put in. It's usually called something like Socket A, or Socket 939, or similar. You'll need to look for a CPU that matches the Soclet type.

The Motherboard also determines the type of Memory and the size limit that it can handle. Modern motherboard take DDR, where as older models will usually take SD-Ram. Memory sticks come in many different sizes and your motherboard will only be able to handle sticks up to a certain size, so make sure you know the limit before you go shopping for Memory.

Your Motherboard may or may not come with ob-board features such as Audio, Ethernet, USB, and Video. If so you wont need to buy the AGP or PCI equivelant, however, in the case of on-board video you may want to buy a more specialized card with more features in which case you can disable the on-board Video and use your 3rd party card.

The Central Processing Unit determines the "Speed" of your computer, but don't get too hung up on this, your speed is actually determined by your slowest component or your greatest bottleneck. So even if you had the fastest CPU in the world but only had 1MB of Memory then your CPU would have to constantly swap data from the Hard Disk to the Memory causing the whole system to slow to a crawl.

So make sure you balance your CPU with your Memory and your Motherboard.

Ok, next component on the shopping list is your Memory, or RAM. First and foremost make sure your Motherboard can support the type of Ram your buying and the Size of the Ram your buying. In some cases you'll need a matching pair of Memory sticks Eg. The motherboard will support 2x 128MB sticks but not 1x 256MB stick.

Ram comes in many different flavors, but you should always try and max out your Ram as best you can, the more Ram the better!

Your Memory holds data that the CPU operates on, if you are operating on lots of data (Eg: a video game, or lots of Documents, Music etc...) and it can all fit into your Memory then generally you'll have a much richer, faster experience than if the CPU has to swap data out of Memory onto the Hard Disk and then back into Memory because of space limitations.

The Video Card is another essential component of the computer system, without it you wouldn't be able to see anything!

The type of video card you need totally depends on what you're going to be using your computer for. If you like super high resolutions, smooth graphics and play a lot of games then you had better fork out for the best video card your motherboard can handle.

However, if you just want to surf the web, don't mind the computer running in 1024x768 then just go for your run-of-the-mill cheap as chips video card, you wont miss the extra features and that money will be better spent elsewhere.

Ok, now we need somewhere to store your Operating System, all your personal data, Applications, games a stuff you download from the Internet.

This is where the Hard Drive comes into play. If you're runnig a modern operating system with rich GUI features (linux or windows) and you run pretty standard applications and maybe a few games you'll probably want at least a 40GB hard drive. Lucky for you they're dirt cheap these days.

The hard drive retains all your data after you turn your computer off, so its a good idea to start thinking about how you're going to back up this data... How about trying to buy two hard drives instead of one? Even two that are exactly the same. That way you'll be able to have an exact copy of your main system just in case....

You'll need one of these to load all your applications, burn music CD's and watch DVD's on your computer. Luckily CD / DVD drives are all pretty standard these days so you can't go too wrong when you goto buy one.

Have a think about what you're going to be using it for, and if there's even a remote chance that you might use it to watch DVD's I would definitely recommend getting yourself a DVD drive today. Just because they are so cheap.

Disk Drives

If you're building an older system, as sort of practice, then make sure you get yourself a Floppy Disk Drive too. A lot of older hardware require drivers that are only available on Floppy Disks, and you might need it if you can't get your computer to boot up and your BIOS doesn't support boot-from-cd.

And of course you're going to need a monitor to see what your doing, and it doesn't really matter which one you get. Just make sure it has a plug that fits into your graphics card (Either VGA or DVI). If you're building a computer out of older parts then most likely you'll be using a VGA graphics adapter and almost all monitors come with a VGA cable.

The Keyboard and Mouse are pretty standard input devices but depending on the age of your motherboard you may need to find different types of Keyboard and Mouse. The older type of connectors are the Serial connectors, followed by PS2 and now we use USB for pretty much everything. I'd say you're most likely to come across PS2 input devices and most Motherboards that are around (even in the 2nd hand stores) will support those devices.

What follows are some absolutely brilliant videos that will show you how to put your system together. Honestly, better than words.

However if you still get stuck then check out the Troubleshooting and Tips Section at the bottom of this page and you'll find some great resources there.

There are also a bunch of great books available on the subject, remember people have been building computers as a hobby for 20+ years now, so there's a lot of literature out there.

You may be a little overwhelmed with the freedom of choice you have when building a computer, but it can be equally overwhelming actually finding the right components so that they actually all work together.

The problem is that if you buy a motherboard that doesn't support the CPU you already have, or if you buy a graphics card that isn't supported by your operating system you can quickly find yourself in hot water.

Especially if its something as major as the motherboard, it's the trickiest piece of equipment to replace and the hardest to install right.

What I do when I get stuck, especially if its new technology, is goto a website that lets me configure my own pc from a range of different hardware options. Since I'm from New Zealand I use the PCU System Builder at www.pcu.co.nz but that's not to say its the best, its just the one that I use.

The benefits of doing it this way are:

1. You get a list of components that you know will work together
2. You can make sure you're paying less than retail when you buy second hand
3. It's easier to search for specific models in second hand auction websites and classifieds. (You can just use Google most of the time)

That's my killer tip for the day!

You've probably already heard of those Linux "Live" CD's, they're the ones that you just slot into your computer and you've got an instant operating system.

Well that's actually a great way to "quick test" your component installation to make sure everything (your video card, ethernet card, ram, CD-Rom, hard drive etc...) is working.

Sure, it wont go through a thorough installation and leave you with a solid system but it will load drivers for each of your components and verify that you have installed them correctly, plus it gives you a way to quickly test different hardware configurations before committing to an Operating System and (especially in the case of Windows XP) a looong installation time.

If you're really into building computers and all things nerdy then this guide is choc full of great resources for those who can help themselves. However if you're just looking for a way to build a computer cheaper than you can buy at the store then... I'm sorry... you're out of luck. Companies can ship PC's much cheaper than you could afford to build one yourself.

This really is a hobby page, and you need to have a passion for this kind of thing. Personally (and I know how nerdy I sound) I get a kick out of making old computers work and I love fiddling around with different components to see which ones work together and to see what I can make the system do that it couldn't do before.

So, take this information and have fun with it!

Thanks for reading,